I know you just received an email from me. So sorry! But I realized after I hit post that I had a bit more to say. I was going to go back in and edit it but I decided I would just put out a second post and hope you love me enough to read it! If not though, I get it!

For the last two months, I have been going so hard. I have been pushing to grow this community and have been posting consistently on social media, inviting people to join this community and explaining the value of subscribing and helping us hit these important goals. And I have felt very conflicted about that because I do know it is irritating to see that kind of content this regularly! But here's the thing--and yes, I'm gonna brag on myself for a moment:

Y'all have watched me build this imprint from the ground up. You know exactly how dedicated I am to this vision and how passionately I will continue to fight for it. Additionally, you have watched as this community has grown and become a united front aimed directed at the publishing industry like a wrecking ball. You were there for every conversation that forced people to confront the bigotry they were accepting on their bookshelves and you were there each and every time this community championed a book and/or an author and made a noticeable difference. And you were there when we began signing books and fighting to set them up for success.

I guess what I am getting at is: You know exactly what we are capable of and why betting on us makes complete sense.

When I am asking you all to invest in this dream it is because I am so unbelievably confident in this community's ability to shake this industry that I am ready to shove those doors open even wider. I want more for this community. I want more Black and brown authors being championed with real resources. I want to build our influence so that we can help more Black and brown creators start their own publishing imprints. I want a community that is ready and willing to take the authors we are championing and to shove them onto best seller lists and onto booktok tables at every bookstore from coast to coast. I want to make waves. And waves take meaningful engagement and substantial investment.

That is why I am pushing so hard.

This imprint is not just about building a successful business for me--although that does matter. Left Unread has always been about doing something that will make lasting change. Because I believe literature has the power to change the world, and in the hands of Black and brown people, that change is almost certain to be for the better.

Literature has always played a massive role in the shaping of culture and you cannot look at the world around you and tell me that we aren't desperately in need of change. None of this is working. And this industry has been controlled by old white men who do not believe in dissenting voices for far too long. We NEED change. We NEED a publishing industry that is not afraid of what Black and brown voices bring to the table. A publishing industry that CHERISHES what we bring to the table. And that is never going to happen if dissenting voices are not handed the power to force it to.

So yeah, I am going to continue pushing this hard and my hope is that those of you who are watching this community do big things will find value in tossing your hat in the ring too.

Today is the 31st of March. In a year, our first book--Cry, Voidbringer--will be sitting on many of your bookshelves. You will have finally read it and realized the unbelievable impact that this story is going to have on the world. You will be hearing influencers talk about this book. Your friends will have read it. It will be sitting on bookshelves in most of your local retailers. And my hope is that when that happens, you will be able to open to our collaborator page in the back of the book and point to the moment where you threw your hat in the ring.

If $12 or $25 a month is an amount you can afford to invest monthly without missing it, please consider upgrading and helping us to meet these important goals. Because while we are doing amazing work already, I am not ready to coast until the impossible dreams we are fighting for stop sounding as impossible. We are 12 names away from the goal we set for our collaborator list and I'd love for you to add yours.

If that's beyond you, consider subscribing at the $5 tier. We are still 132 paid subscribers away from our immediate goal. And I would love to see us reach that.

And once again, our goals are not arbitrary. While I run Left Unread, it is an imprint under a publishing company that I do not make decisions for. Meaning our ability to do more depends on us reaching metrics that warrant more investment. I set these goals because I sat down and listened to what is necessary for an imprint to be successful and I am trying to make sure I can point to our numbers and argue that we warrant more investment. Which looks like:

• More books we can acquire

• More authors we can champion

• More resources to invest in Black and brown people

• Wider doors for the marginalized people coming up behind us

• Change

So yeah. If you are in a position to invest, I am asking you to do it. And if you are not, please continue to show up and be present, because it is a MASSIVE part of what we are trying to accomplish. Our free subscribers are not less valuable and this specific goal is not our only goal. So please never feel that it is the only way you can invest. I am talking only to the people who CAN.

Anyway, I'm done rambling. Let's go ahead and change the world. Alright? Cool.

Can't wait to see what we accomplish together, Fam!